Ne me quitte pas

“Maya Angela Smith makes a persuasive case for ‘Ne me quitte pas’ as a cultural artifact that survives, travels, perpetuates itself across versions, languages, and audiences—one that is regularly translated and in turn translates its performers and audiences, so that each version has its own autonomy in difference. This insightful book is for anyone who has needed music as a source for transformation.” - Joshua Clover, author of 1989: Bob Dylan Didn’t Have This to Sing About

“Ne me quitte pas takes the reader on an exciting and beautifully researched journey through the varied afterlives of Jacques Brel’s classic about lost love and despair. Maya Angela Smith’s compelling autobiographical narrative illuminates the song’s enduring relevance as it moves across the often impenetrable borders of race, gender, language, and nation.” - Kimberly Mack, author of Fictional Blues: Narrative Self-Invention from Bessie Smith to Jack White

"Melding memoir, literary analysis, and cultural criticism, Smith creates a meditation on translation, adaptation, and appropriation. . . .  Incorporating literary and cultural theory, Smith considers how race and gender have factored into the performance and reception of the piece, as well as how its meaning has been changed by renditions in film, theater, drag performance, and even a Cirque du Soleil show. A discerning analysis." - Kirkus Reviews

"A fascinating study of language, race, gender and the subtleties that can change completely the meaning of a song, all analysed meticulously. . . . In an age of virality when music seems to stream out of people’s phones as easily as water from a tap, Brel’s 'Ne me quitte pas'—and Maya Angela Smith’s book—are a testament to the power that a single song can still have." - Jeremy Allen, Times Literary Supplement

"This splendid book is a love letter and a dissertation, almost a song in itself." - Jim Kates, The Arts Fuse

"Through persuasive prose, Smith provides a multifaceted analysis of the song, capturing its evolution as a cultural phenomenon. She illustrates how it acts as a vessel for translation, bridging not only French and English, but also marginalized identities and mainstream culture." - Anna Steegmann, New York City Jazz Record